Rohde & Schwarz ZVA8 User manual

1145.1084.12-061
Operating Manual
Vector Network Analyzers
R&S®ZVA 8 / ZVA 24
1145.1110.08 / 24/26
R&S®ZVB 4 / ZVB 8 / ZVB 20
1145.1010.04/05/06 / 08/09/10 / 20/21/22
R&S®ZVT 8
1300.0045.62
Printed in Germany
Test and Measurement Division

R&S®is a registered trademark of Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG.
Trade names are trademarks of the owners.
This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the
OpenSSL Toolkit
(
http://www.openssl.or
g)
.

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Tabbed Divider Overview
R&S®ZVA/ZVB/ZVT Documentation Map
What’s New in this Revision
Data Sheet
Safety Instructions
Certificate of Quality
EU Certificate of Conformity
List of R&S Representatives
Glossary of Terms
Tabbed Divider
1 Chapter 1: Preparing for Use: R&S ZVA
Preparing for Use: R&S ZVB
Preparing for Use: R&S ZVT
2 Chapter 2: Getting Started
3 Chapter 3: System Overview
4 Chapter 4: GUI Reference
5 Chapter 5: Remote Control
6 Chapter 6: Command Reference
7 Chapter 7: Program Examples
8 Chapter 8: Maintenance, Hardware Interfaces
9 Chapter 9: Measurement Examples
10 Index

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R&S®ZVA/ZVB/ZVT Documentation Map
Help System
The help system is embedded in the instrument, offering quick,
context-sensitive reference to the information needed for
operation and programming. The help contains the complete user
documentation for the network analyzer.
Three separate help files ZVA.chm, ZVB.chm, and ZVT.chm are
provided for the network analyzers R&S ZVA, R&S ZVB, and R&S
ZVT, respectively. You can also transfer the help files to your PC
and use them as a standalone help.
Quick Start Guide
The quick start guide contains the data sheet, describes
everything that is needed to put the instrument into operation and
helps you get familiar with the analyzer. The quick start guide
gives an introduction to the instrument’s functionality and provides
procedures for typical measurement tasks.
Three separate quick start guides are provided for the network
analyzers R&S ZVA, R&S ZVB, and R&S ZVT, respectively.
Documentation CD-ROM
The CD-ROM provides the complete user documentation for the
network analyzer family:
•The online help systems for R&S ZVA, R&S ZVB, and R&S
ZVT in two different HTML-based formats (*.chm for transfer
to the hard disk and WebHelp for viewing from the CD).
•A printable (*.pdf) version of the online help.
•The quick start manuals in printable form.
•The data sheets in printable form.
•Links to different useful sites in the R&S internet.
Optional Documentation
The present printable/printed version of the help system provides
the contents of the quick start manuals plus the complete
reference information for operation and programming contained in
the help systems. This manual can be ordered as an option
(stock no. 1155.1084.12); see ordering information in the data
sheet.
The manual is valid for all analyzer types R&S ZVA, R&S ZVB,
and R&S ZVT. Chapter 1 is divided in three parts for the three
analyzer types. The remaining chapters are based on a R&S
ZVA, which is the instrument with the most comprehensive
functionality. Most of the features are also available on a R&S
ZVB and on a R&S ZVT that is controlled from the Graphical User
Interface displayed on an external monitor.

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What's New in this Revision
This manual describes version V1.80 of the ZVA/ZVB/ZVT firmware. Compared to the previous version
V1.78, the new firmware provides numerous extensions and improvements. The major new features
and bug fixes are listed below.
To check your ZVA/ZVB/ZVT firmware version, click Help – About Nwa...
New Features in Firmware V1.80 (Compared to V1.78)
New measurement mode: Frequency Conversion (option R&S ZVA-K4, including Harmonic
Distortion measurements and Mixer Mode)
New calibration type: Power calibration
Support for external test devices: External generators and power meters can be controlled
via USB, LAN, GPIB bus, or other interface types
Adaptive Gain Control (AGC) of the receiver
Automatic Level Control (ALC) of the source
Low Phase Noise mode
Extended bandfilter search mode: Bandpass Search Ref to Marker
Improved access to the time domain and frequency domain stimulus values in the Transform –
Time Domain Stimulus Axis menu.
Frequency Step Size is a setting parameter for frequency sweeps
Marker values can be exported to an ASCII file.
New remote control command [SENSe<Ch>:]CORRection:COLLect:METHod? returns a list
of all calibration types for channel <Ch>.
New remote control commands [SENSe<Ch>:]CORRection:CONNection and
[SENSe<Ch>:]CORRection:CONNection:DELete configure and delete user-defined
connector types.
New remote control command [SENSe<Ch>:]CORRection:CKIT:<std_type> defines the
parameters of arbitrary connector types.
New remote control commands SYSTem:SOUNd:ALARm[:STATe] and
SYSTem:SOUNd:ALARm[:STATe] switch alarm and status sounds on or off.
Fixed Issues
Trace mathematics can distinguish between voltages and dimensionless quantities (Result is
Wave Quantity).
Zero Delay at Marker can now be used for all ports, the arithmetic problems have been solved.

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Improvements in Firmware V1.78 (Compared to V1.77)
Performance improvements for very large numbers of simultaneous channels/traces
New Features in Firmware V1.77 (Compared to V1.75)
New calibration standard: Sliding match.
The 7-term calibration types TOM, TRM, TRL, and TNA can be used for an arbitrary number of
ports.
Two new calibration types: TSM Enhanced and TOM Enhanced.
Sweep segment-specific IF gain for received waves including Automatic Gain Control (AGC).
New Features in Firmware V1.75 (Compared to V1.70)
The channel bits are switched over without intermediate reset when the measuring channel is
changed. The bits always correspond to the current measuring channel.
During a calibration sweep the channel bits of the calibrated channel are activated (instead of
the reset values).
When a new channel is created, the channel bits automatically take on the values of the
previous channel.
Calibration via remote control works for all channels without restriction.
Touchstone files for more than 4 (and up to 8) ports are supported.
A measurement wizard for up to 4 ports is available for ZVT analyzers.
Automatic calibration works correctly after a balanced port configuration is configured in the
measurement wizard.
New Features in Firmware V1.70 (Compared to V1.62)
New measurement: Virtual Transform (Embedding/De-Embedding)
Sweep range can be defined by Sweep Step Size
Alternative conversion of wave quantities in trace mathematics
Data to Memory function can be applied to all data traces at once
New softkey Recall Last Cal Set
Export of formatted trace data
Renormalization of reference impedances for the test ports with complex values

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Automatic power reduction for Calibration Unit in the initial tab of the System Config dialog
GUI improvements
Paste marker list for easier data entry in numeric entry bars and dialogs.
System files (*.zvx, *.s<n>p, *.csv, *.ck, *.calkit, *.seglist, *.mth, *.limit, *.colorscheme) can be
loaded by drag and drop or double-click in the Windows Explorer.
New remote control features
The new features are also available via remote control; the SCPI commands are reported in the
relevant reference sections. Besides the following remote-control features have been added:
User defined color scheme settings (DISPlay:CMAP...).
Cal standard data can be loaded from a Touchstone file (MMEMory:LOAD:CKIT:SDATa...)
New command SYSTem:ERRor:ALL reads complete error queue.
New command FORMat:BORDer controls whether binary data is transferred in normal or
swapped byte order.
Fixed Issues in Firmware V1.62 (Compared to V1.61)
Improved stability of the TNA calibration.
Corrected TOM, TNA, TRM, TRL error term conversion improves the accuracy of the 7-term
calibration types.
Fixed Issues in Firmware V1.62 (Compared to V1.61)
Time domain transform of impedances and admittances corrected.
New Features in Firmware 1.60 (Compared to V1.51)
Support for new option: Time Domain (option R&S ZVAB-K2)
Handling of software options: Option key entry in System Config. menu, option Info
Double-click magnifies diagram areas
Fixed Issues
The limitation concerning the port groups reported for FW V1.50 no longer applies. Port groups can be
measured and used simultaneously.
Fixed Problems in Firmware V1.51 (Compared to V1.50)
Mixed mode parameters corrected.
Problems with VX11 GPIB bus connection solved.

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New Features in Firmware V1.50 (Compared to V1.02)
Support for new option: Calibration Unit (accessory R&S ZV-Z51)
New measurement: x dB compression point
New calibration types: TRM, TRL, TNA
Arbitrary values for differential and common mode reference impedances (in Measurement
Wizard and Balanced and Measured Ports dialog)
GUI improvements
In the User Interface tab of the System Config. dialog, the Dialog Transparency can be varied
on a scale between 0% and 100%.
Del Error Log is no longer an Info menu command but only displayed when the error log is
viewed.
Limits for the marker search range, the trace evaluation range and the bandfilter search range
can be displayed in the diagrams.
Incremented marker range within sweep range.
Miscellaneous
User-defined color schemes for the diagram areas and all display elements.
Improved S-Parameter Wizard (with reference impedance settings for balanced ports, more
bandwidths, automatic calibration)and Calibration Wizard.
In the User Interface tab of the System Config. dialog, Keep Measurement Data for >Repeat
Previous Cal< can be set as a general parameter.
The added Redo function reverses the action of the Undo command.
Instrument settings can be changed while a new sweep is being prepared.
New remote control features
The new features are also available via remote control; the SCPI commands are reported in the
relevant reference sections. Besides the following new remote-control features are new or have
no equivalent in manual control:
Automatic calibration with arbitrary ports and user-supplied cal kit files
([SENSe<Ch>:]CORRection:COLLect:AUTO).
Lock command execution until an application program run on the analyzer is terminated:
PROGram[:SELected]:WAIT.
Fixed Bugs
The following bugs came to our attention and have been fixed:
Setups can be stored to external storage media (USB memory sticks, floppy disks) without
restriction.

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Limitations
The following features are reported in the data sheet and this help system but not available in the
current firmware version:
Simultaneous measurement of port groups (in dialog Balanced and Measured Ports).